Throughout this project, I have used the term “Black women” to describe those whom I know to be descendants of Africans living in North America, the Caribbean, and Latin America; otherwise known as African-American women. I have used this term purely for the ease of writing and not to in any way disavow the history of Africans in this country. In my personal life, I use and prefer to be known as an African-American woman simply because of the inferences of the word “black.” At its root is the word “lack,” meaning not whole or complete.
As a Yoruba priestess and metaphysician, I know words are things which create conditions. I also recognize one of the major issues facing African-American women today is the feeling that we “lack” something. The something, we believe, may be good looks, or ability, or any number of human qualities. These feelings of lack so permeate our mind, body, and spirit, we have, in many cases, lost faith in our worthiness. Nothing could be further from the truth. In the words of our brother Hugh Masekela, as far as the African woman is concerned, “Nothing more need be added. The only thing left to do is, to do.”
We are the daughters of the Mother of Creation. The secret of life is etched into the genetic composition of our DNA. We are the doors of life. All that lives has come through the portal of the woman. The fact that we are human “beings” says we lack nothing essential for our survival. I therefore ask your pardon in my use of the word “black” for the purpose of this work. It is in no way meant to support notions of unworthiness or to disrespect our ancestral origin.
I also ask that you pay particular attention to the Meditations with the Mother, which appear at the beginning of each chapter. These words were presented to me during early morning meditations at the ocean in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Following my morning prayer, I would experience the presence of a haze which descended over me as I was instructed to write. Many times, the words would bring me to tears. Always, they stirred a feeling of protection and revelation. The haze, identified only as “the Mother,” asked that I relate these words to “the daughters” just as they were given. They have been edited only for grammatical correctness.